well said. although i don't take my art AS serious or perfect as possible (i do it more for fun really), i still try to make my stuff pleasing to look at and even original/unique, or at the very least "not boring" ?
I feel like Pablo when I'm working on cartoons
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There's always room for going above and beyond :]
This is a complicated topic. I think it really depends on what you mean by “perfectionist.” If people are criticizing you for spending more time on your art and passion rather than getting wasted at parties all the time, then yeah, screw them. They’re just jealous that you’re inherently more able to cope and even thrive with the last couple of years’ pandemic-induced isolation while extroverts at this point are scrawling blood messages on the walls, gaining 500 pounds in “quarantine weight” unaware that it is still somewhat safe to be outside in an empty space without a mask or that Ring Fit Adventure exists, and starting to believe every single thing they read on the Internet. Meanwhile introverts are chipping away at their art at a slightly faster pace than usual to ensure everyone else does not go COMPLETELY crazy by placating them with their content.
However, if “perfectionism” is being used in the context that you’re editing your writing too much in the rough draft/outline stage (as opposed to just refining things after a wonderful “stream-of-consciousness” session), or a major studio like Disney is trying to find some tricky balancing act of making their new movie acceptable to the CCP, while also not completely alienating “Red” States in the US, WHILE trying to ensure the LGBTQA+ and feminist communities that they’re “woke,” ALL to ensure they make a profit on a movie that cost $500 million to make and advertise, then yes, “perfectionism” in this context is objectively limiting to creativity. The perfectionist editing should come later in the process, not when you’re first trying to come up with ideas.
Context is everything.
Perfectionism should come from a place of skill and knowledge. You must humble yourself and listen to others who know more than you before you're able to lead. If you can't direct, write, draw, or play an instrument, you should be prepared to fail. Every newbie artist should experience failure since it builds character and keeps you grounded when facing harder stakes. Newbies shouldn't be in position to make decisions on redoing a project midway in. Like I said, finish the project and if it sucks, well of course it might. It's a debut project. But they should look at the completion of it as an accomplishment. They didn't stop drawing and that's something admirable.
@HabaneroTadpole One of the reasons I like Newgrounds so much is that, particularly when I first started, people would give me some very in-depth reviews and constructive criticism. Yes, it kind of hurts when you work hard on a project as a newbie, everyone in your circle knows you're new at this and makes their critiques less harsh accordingly, only for some Internet stranger to lay it on you like you're an expert making some especially lazy project, but like you said, it is necessary, and it is rather annoying when you specifically ask for comments and critiques (C & C) on other sites, but you just get comments saying "So good!" or "U suck" without any helpful explanation why they think that way, assuming the "algorithm" still gives beginners a shot of being seen at all, so I would rather have good-faith critiques, even if they sting a bit at first.
A more recent example of this for me personally is when I finally bit the bullet and made an HTML5 game and submitted it here. The lousy reviews hurt, but they were super informative should I try making a more "serious" game and I can at least say, after all these years of merely saying I want to make a video game that I actually did, even if it ain't exactly Super Mario Odyssey.
CJspellsfish
"the round pegs in the square holes"
-Steve Jobs
"square peg in a round hole?"
-Tom Fulp
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